wingin' it

I fancy myself a decent cook. I can whip up my regular dishes effortlessly and with consistent success, and have even adopted my mother's habit of not using measuring utensils (which frustrated me to no end when I was a kid and learning how to cook). I also have a moderately high success rate when following new recipes. Sometimes, I just throw things together based on what's left in the fridge/freezer/cupboards before the next shopping trip. This tactic once resulted in the now-famous and incredibly delicious (if I do say so myself) Esparagas* Tzatziki Tshiken.

Last night's inspiration was a recent trip to Stonewall Kitchen, and the decision to revel in the joy that is salmon. This became a two-course fish delight, where our regular salad course was replaced with an appetizer. Very unusual, but it was all about the fish. Dinner for two, coming up!

Herb Salmon Pâté
(enough for at least four servings)

o 1 can Kirkland Signature salmon
o 2 tablespoons Market Basket cream cheese (pre-whipped)
o 3 generous pinches of Stonewall Kitchen Seafood & Veggie Spice Rub
o Nonni's Garlic Parmesan Panetini

Step 1: Mix salmon, cream cheese, and spices together with a fork until blended.

Step 2: Spread onto panetini, and eat! Easy and delicious!

Note 1: I suppose, if you want to complicate things, you could use a food processor. But why increase the number of dishes to wash?

Note 2: This would also be nice on pita corners or any number of crackers. My newest favorite is Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits. Yum!

Tangy Grape Salmon
(two servings)

o 2 Kirkland Signature IQF salmon fillets, thawed
o 1½ teaspoons Stonewall Kitchen Blue Cheese Herb Mustard (separated)
o 1 cup red grapes, sliced into halves
o 2 cups carrots, peeled and cubed**
o ½ cup Rice Select tri-color couscous

Step 1: Bring a couple quarts of water to a boil on the stovetop, drop carrots in, cover, and continue on low boil.

Step 2: Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Place salmon in Pyrex dish. Evenly spread one half-teaspoon of the mustard on each fillet. Layer grape halves over top of both fillets. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Step 3: Meanwhile, prepare couscous per the instructions (I use EVOO instead of butter).

Step 4: Change oven settings to high broil, remove Pyrex cover, and move salmon to top rack, directly beneath heating coil. Broil for 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven, cover, and let stand for a couple minutes.

Step 5: Once carrots are tender, drain and add one half teaspoon of the mustard, stirring to coat evenly.

Note 1: This mustard is very tasty but quite strong, so be certain not to use too much of it or it may overpower the other flavors.

Ted is the in-house food critic, and he gave this dish a 7 on a scale of 1-10. I liked it, but am usually more critical than he is. Next time, I will use less mustard (which is how I came to offer the advice of Note 1), and I might squeeze some lime on the salmon. I also might be inclined to use the Seafood & Veggie rub on the carrots instead of the mustard.

Tonight, I'm going to experiment with chicken and Stonewall Kitchen's Maine Maple Champagne Mustard. Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about that! I'm off to our store to do some work, and then to the grocery store to find a good veggie to go with dinner. Spinach? Broccoli?

* This is not a misspelling. It is the translation for "asparagus" from the Greek.

** Check out this website for t-shirts. Rock on.

more more more

Back again with the newest dinner sensation. This was based on a recipe found on the back of the packaging for the unseasoned IQF tilapia fillets I bought at Costco.

There were substitutions this time, as well, which shouldn't really shock anyone at this point, even if I am only three installments in to my recipe series. They are borne of several circumstances. [A] I do not have the ingredient(s) in my kitchen when I begin preparing. [B] One or both of us have a particular disinclination toward the ingredient(s). [C] Modification for the purpose of reducing sodium.

Here we go!

Captain's Mediterranean Tilapia
(makes two servings)

o 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
o 1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
o 2 tilapia fillets
o 2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
o Freshly ground sea salt
o Freshly ground black pepper
o 4 teaspoons dried basil
o 1 large tomato, cut into six even slices
o 12 Kalamata olives, chopped

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Drizzle olive oil evenly over bottom of Pyrex dish. Sprinkle dried onion, then set tilapia fillets down.

Step 2: For each tilapia fillet, add a pinch of sea salt and a sprinkling of black pepper. Then spread one tablespoon of garlic and half of the Kalamata olives on each, and top each with three tomato slices. Finally, sprinkle two teaspoons of dried basil over top of each.

Step 3: Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until fish is opaque and flaky.

Note 1: You may notice that I use sea salt in particular when salt is called for. There is a reason for that. It has less sodium than regular table salt, and includes additional minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium. It also has slightly different (and in my opinion, better) flavor and texture. I have coarse sea salt in the same type of grinder as the black pepper -- hence my inclusion of "freshly ground sea salt." Some people balk at the substitution of table salt with sea salt because the introduction of iodine into refined salt addresses the problem of potential iodine deficiency, which can lead to thyroid problems. That said, a normal diet that includes seafood, vegetables, and eggs more than compensates for the loss of iodized salt.

Note 2: The Kalamata olives that I used come in a jar with a marinade of olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sea salt (there it is again!). I also drizzled one teaspoon of the marinade over each fillet before anything else. Yes, more sodium, but fantastic flavor.

Note 3: The original recipe called for Vidalia onions to be sauteéd in EVOO and used as a bed for the tilapia. Sounds yummy, but without going into specifics, let's just say that whole onions don't work for us. The dried flakes are enough to give it a little zip of onion flavor.

Note 4: I served this with fresh steamed whole baby spinach (yes, the same side veg for a whole week, because I buy a giant bag of it at -- where else? -- Costco). Instead of having a starch with dinner, we had some raw carrots as an appetizer. In fact, I realized that, with the exception of the olives and tomatoes, every single ingredient of our dinner originated at Costco. Viva la Kirkland Signature!

This dish is a keeper for us. Thanks to High Liner Foods, whose recipe I used as a jumping off point.

Post Script: The picture above is not what my version of this dish looked like at all (although it is "tomato tilapia"). It is a random photo I found on the Internet. Maybe someday I'll be so motivated as to photograph my own cooking. Don't count on it anytime soon. Sound familiar?

fruit for dinner

I found another recipe with which to experiment, and it came out pretty well. I'm being modest: Ted told me approximately seven times in the last 24 hours how much he liked it. ::glowing with pride:: Hence, the newest installment in my series of recipes. OK, so I've only had one so far, but every series must start with a first installment!

This was the first time I tried this particular dish. I had to make a couple of ingredient substitutions, so I am providing this as an interim recommendation on the basis that the next attempt will be different (i.e. I will follow the recipe to the letter). A follow-up note will be included at that time.

Inspiration for this dinner was a bit unusual. During a trip to Yummies, I discovered dried mangoes and thought I'd give them a try. I gained tremendous appreciation for the ambrosia that is a mango during my trip to Australia, where it was not only readily available as fruit and fruit juice (both incredibly delicious), but was also incorporated into many cooked dishes. So, although the recent purchase of dried mangoes was originally for the purpose of snacking, I decided to try it out in a meal.

I'd thawed some meat and had a hankering to use my lovely powdered ginger root, and so I searched All Recipes for "chicken mango ginger." Voila!

Orange Mango Chicken
(makes two servings)

o 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
o 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
o 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
o Freshly ground sea salt to taste
o Freshly ground black pepper to taste
o ½ cup lemon juice
o ½ cup orange juice
o ½ cup dried mango slices
o 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
o 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Step 1: Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Place chicken breast halves in the skillet, and cook 8-10 minutes on each side, until no longer pink in center and juices run clear.

Step 2: Season both sides with oregano, salt, and pepper. Remove from skillet, and set aside in warm oven.

Step 3: Heat lemon juice in the skillet over medium heat, and scrape up browned bits. Mix in orange juice, mango slices, ginger, and cinnamon.

Step 4: Over high heat, cook and continuously stir 4-5 minutes, until thickened.

Step 5: Spoon over the cooked chicken breast halves to serve.

Note 1: The original recipe calls for fresh mango. Although the dried mango tasted quite lovely, I feel certain that the fresh mango will make this dish even better. The original also called for Thyme, which has mysteriously disappeared from my spice rack. Yahoo! Answers suggested the Oregano substitution. I use oregano a lot when I cook because I love the flavor and aroma. It was equally pleasing in this dish, though I am certain that's partly due to my familiarity with (and usual enjoyment of) it. I'm eager to try this dish with the thyme next go 'round. And lastly, the original called for the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon. I used packaged lemon juice instead.

Note 2: The original recipe yields four servings. I halved it so there would only be two. I also had my way with it after that calculation (like using 2/3 of the olive oil instead of half, and doubling the oregano and ginger).

Note 3: The original recipe calls simply for "olive oil." I used EVOO because it is the only kind I have on hand. I understand that there is a difference in olive oils (flavor, smoke point, etc.), but I find EVOO to be quite suitable for my plebeian palate.

Note 4: I served this with fresh steamed whole baby spinach and mashed potatoes made with sodium-free chicken broth, dried oregano, and freshly ground black pepper. We had blueberries for dessert, though Ted ate most of them because they were far too tart for my liking (I can't wait for Spring).

Note 5: This dish is remarkably low-sodium, though that's not surprising when you look at the ingredients. Another sodium guideline suggests dinner should contain approximately 800 milligrams of sodium (as part of a meal plan that totals no more than 2400 mg. per day). This meal came way under that standard. By my extremely non-exact estimate, I figure the whole meal to be less than 300 mg. of sodium. And taste was not sacrificed in the least!

Another successful meal. Tonight was cook's night off, so we went to Ruby Tuesday for their great "garden bar." My salad consisted of five types of leafy greens (love that!) plus some red cabbage, red and green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, carrot shreds, cucumber slices, peas, craisins, and bleu cheese crumbles. Yum. Tomorrow, I'm back on duty and eyeing a new take on tiliapia.

Post Script: The picture above is not what my version of this dish looked like at all (although it is "mango chicken"). It is a random photo I found on the Internet. Maybe someday I'll be so motivated as to photograph my own cooking. Don't count on it anytime soon.

a new feature

At the risk of sounding immodest, I'm a pretty good cook. I can really only remember one dish I attempted that was so unpleasant we threw it away after a couple bites and went out to eat. Otherwise, I do fairly well. Last year, I made a concerted effort to start creating some of my own new recipes, with three specific goals in mind:

1. Fresh/whole ingredients
2. Low sodium
3. Great flavor

Those last two things might seem contradictory, but creative use of non-salt spices goes a very long way to that end. I went great guns with my inventions for a while, but slowed down when we bought the store, changed states, started new jobs, spent more time with the family, etc. Now, I'm getting back into it. Until I hone the next few recipes, I'm going to regale you with my favorites to this point. This one will be early dinner for Ted and me before Super Bowl tonight.

Chicken Pasta Primavera
(makes two large servings)

o 4 oz. uncooked pasta
o ½ cup carrots, cubed
o 1 cup broccoli florets
o ½ cup zucchini, cubed
o 3 large grape tomatoes, sliced
o 1 teaspoon olive oil
o ½ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch strips
o ½ cup sliced mushrooms
o ¼ cup chopped red pepper
o ¼ cup chopped orange pepper
o ¼ cup chopped yellow pepper
o 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
o 1/3 cup light ranch dressing
o ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
o ¼ teaspoon basil leaves (dried, or 1 teaspoon shredded if fresh)
o Coarsely ground black pepper to taste

Step 1: Cook and drain pasta as directed on package – except add carrots 2 minutes before pasta is done, and broccoli, zucchini, and tomato 1 minute before pasta is done.

Step 2: While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in deep, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir until brown. Cook chicken, mushrooms, and peppers for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink in center; remove from heat.

Step 3: Stir dressing, cheese, and basil into chicken. Toss with pasta and vegetables.

Step 4: Sprinkle plates with coarsely ground black pepper, then add primavera on top.

Note 1: Wheat pasta is a good substitute, as long as you find one that you like the flavor and texture of. If you don't like the pasta, you're not going to like the whole dish.

Note 2: Personally, I don't think it's possible to have too much basil in this dish (or anywhere in life). If you like basil, amp it up!

Note 3: Be creative with your personal choice of veggies. Fresh or frozen green peas are a great addition. I don't include them because Ted hates them with the fire of a thousand suns. Whichever veggies you choose, just bear in mind the density of each to determine whether it should be boiled with the pasta or sauteed with the chicken.

Note 4: This dish is not low-sodium, per se, thanks to the ranch dressing and parmesan. Although I would normally recommend substituting high-sodium ingredients for lower-sodium alternatives, this particular dish is NOT the same without these two key ingredients. That said, Chicken Pasta Primavera fits easily into the recommended guideline of less than 2400 mg. of sodium per day -- as long as the remaining meals and snacks of the day are equally sodium-conscious.

There's my cooking lesson of the day. I'm off to chop some veggies.